Neuroscience & Behavior 309SP - Synaptic Plasticity

Much of what is currently known of memory is thought to involve synaptic modifications on both short and long time scales in a region of the brain called the hippocampus. This course will look at the experimental attempts to understand learning and memory. Students will utilize critical analysis of primary literature in order to gain a broad understanding of the historical underpinnings of the field as well as the most recent advances. Primary research papers will be analyzed and discussed, covering topics that include invertebrate memory models, long term potentiation in the mammalian hippocampus, synaptic tagging, and place cells of the hippocampus.

Prereq: NEURO-100 or BIOL-230.